


Power Rangers Zenith: Agents of Hexagon

by Shadowhenshin



Category: Power Rangers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:42:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25392559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowhenshin/pseuds/Shadowhenshin
Summary: The United Alliance of Evil has returned under the reign of the mysterious Dark Infinus. Thankfully Hexagon is ready with a new team of Rangers that call upon the powers of the past to fight the UAE and keep the galaxy safe from the growing evil. Together with a plethora of past Rangers, the Zenith team will protect the planet against Infinus and his legion of darkness.
Kudos: 1





	1. The Oncoming Storm

The sky burned red and the oceans boiled. The invasion was fast and brutal, devastating the planet and leaving the civilians panicked and hopeless as their world collapsed around them.

Billy Cranston looked past the panicked mob around him and towards the massive warship. His hands pulled tightly into fists.

Aquatar, a place that had become his home, was burning to ash.

Billy looked towards his assistant, a young Aquitian female with a bald head and purple eyes.

"The morphers are ready," he breathed softly.

"That's great!" She exclaimed. "We need to get them to Earth immediately. Tommy Oliver already has the candidates ready."

"I'm sorry Thetis," Billy said. "But you're going alone."

He looked down at his Power Morpher and felt a shiver creep down his spine.

Her frontal cartilage turned a dark violent. "What are you saying? You have to come with me! The Galactic Alliance needs you." She grabbed hold of his hand desperately. "Nobody knows the morphing grid like you do."

Billy shook her hand away. "I've taught you everything I could. It'll be up to you to see the rest of the project through."

The Aquitian looked up at her mentor with a shocked and quickly saddening expression. Billy just smiled as he reached into his coat pocket and turned to Thetis. "These are Hagonni flower seeds," he explained. "When you get to Earth I have a special place I want you to plant them." He placed the cloth bag into her hand. "Any of my old friends will know where."

Thetis nodded numbly, then just stared at Billy for several seconds.

"Go to the ship," Billy said coldly. "You've gotta get off-world while there's still time." His grip on the morpher tightened. "But for me... It's Morphin Time…"

In a flash, the Blue Ranger appeared and charged towards the army.  
***

Reese hit the ground running. His rubber soles smacked the rooftop as he continued the chase.

The other man in the red hoodie looked back for a brief moment before pumping his legs even harder and jumping off the rooftop onto the next.

"It's always hard to get," Reese said with a smirk and followed suit. He lunged forward, clearing the six-foot gap between the buildings easily before meeting his target where he stood trapped on the last building.

Reese took a second to savor the moment before pulling his fist back and throwing it at the man.

The man dodged the punch and kicked Reese in the ribs, causing him to buckle to the ground.

"Gotta try harder than that," the man in the hoodie said with a smile.

Then in a puff of smoke, a girl with long brown hair appeared behind the man in the hoodie and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Got you," she said with a triumphant expression.

"That's no fair Camryn," Reese muttered from the ground. "You used your ninja skills."

The man in the hoodie laughed. "Never said that wasn't allowed."

"You're just mad you couldn't catch him," Camryn said and wrapped her arm around the man.

"I would've had him if he hadn't bruised my ribs," Reese groaned.

"Hey don't stress it," The man said. "You'll be good as new in a few days."

"You say that now," a voice echoed around the three.

Reese quickly stood up and regrouped with the others, ignoring the pain in his side as the figure materialized in a bolt of red lightning.

"But you won't be very good when I'm done with you!" Lord Zedd howled as a posse of putty patrollers appeared alongside him.

"You guys take those dancing freaks," the man in the red hoodie said as he turned away from the strange stony automations. "I'll get Zedd."

"Right," Camryn said and sprang into action. Performing a combo of kicks and punches that seemed relatively effective against the warbling masses

Reese joined her, ducking under a swinging hand before landing his fist under its chin, uppercutting it backward.

Meanwhile, the man in red dodged Zedd's lightning and spin kicked the warlord back.

Zed growled in frustration and swung his Z-Staff like a battle-ax. But the man jumped back as his body began to glow in a halo of crimson energy.

He lunged forward and punched Lord Zedd in the face. The warlord stumbled backward and as his foot met empty air and he began to tumble backward.

Lord Zedd merely laughed and used the opportunity to grab the man by the arm, attempting to use the leverage to toss them both off the building.

"Ace!" Reese exclaimed and rushed to the man's aid.

But a stray Putty used the opportunity to knock him upside the head and send Reese back to the ground.

"You idiot!" Camryn exclaimed before all the remaining putties surged towards her.

Reese watched helplessly as Ace and Zedd fell from the roof, and Camryn was swallowed by the mass of twitching bodies.

"Alright, that's enough." The voice boomed and everything was enveloped in light.

The world melted away, leaving the three sprawled out on the ground.

Tommy Oliver sighed. "Everybody rest up, we'll try it again tomorrow."

Ace dusted himself off. "I'm sorry sir, I should've been stronger."

"Strength had nothing to do with it," Tommy said. "That Simudeck projection of Zedd was barely even a tenth of his real strength. The test was to see how well the three of you could work together."

"Then why did you tell the others to chase me?"

"Because you're the best," Tommy said plainly. "But the objective wasn't to become their opponent, it was to become their teacher."

Tommy then turned around and walked away.

"That was a little harsh," Reese said as he stepped up to Ace.

"Doesn't mean he's wrong," Ace muttered with a frown.

"Oh relax," Camryn said. "He's probably just grumpy about something else. You remember how he got when I asked him about Commander Hillard."

"Dude he made us run like six miles," Ace said with a slight grin.

"See?" Camryn asked. "Don't sweat it. Just come chill at Ernie's with us for a bit."

"Okay," Ace said. Then he looked at Reese and smiled. "Sure."

The Ernie's Brain Freeze and Juice Bar of Angel Grove was the largest in the nation. It had started as a simple juice bar and youth center and before evolving into a staple of nearly every suburban town.

Ace had loved it there ever since his first time as seeing it as a kid. Back then his brother and him practically lived there. Even when their foster parents changed the Juice Bar had remained a sort of home for them, a place where they could belong.

Because of that, it remained a pivotal part of his daily routine and after he'd been acquainted with Camryn and Reese it had become their go-to spot as well.

"I don't know," Reese said as he took a sip of his veggie blend juice. "I just feel like Tommy was being rough on you."

"I don't know," Ace lied, "I just don't see it."

He took a sip of his pomegranate drink and swallowed the rising guilt. In truth, he knew that Tommy had been singling him out since the very beginning. Since before the training, since even before the recruitment. Tommy had been there, watching Ace from a distance.

And it took him years to figure out why…

"One day the world will be in danger again," Tommy had explained to Ace the night that he showed up to Ace's apartment. "We need to be ready."

That was the day he asked Ace to join Hexagon.

To save the world…

"How did I know I'd find you here?" Gia Moran asked as she sat down at their table.

"I don't know," Camryn said with a smirk. "Maybe you're psychic."

"I am and you should be ashamed," Gia said with a wink.

Camryn chuckled as her face flushed red. It was an unstated fact that Camryn had a crush on the former Ranger. When Gia had been chosen to be their unofficial ambassador/mentor Reese and Ace had joked endlessly about Camryn's sudden luck.

Even Gia decided to playfully lean into the teasing. Partially, Ace figured, because she was trying to get in with their group, and partially because she enjoyed the attention.

"I heard Tommy was kinda rough this morning," Gia said.

"Who told you that?" Ace asked.

"Camryn's Twitter."

"Dude, what we're doing is beyond top secret," Ace said.

"Dude joining Hexagon has revolutionized my social media presence," Camryn plied. "Plus I know nobody cares because Wes likes all my tweets."

Gia's phone buzzed and she frowned as she checked the notification. "I'd get your next round of drinks to go," Gia said darkly. "Tommy said we're having an emergency meeting in an hour."

The rather large conference room felt weirdly claustrophobic as everyone crowded around Tommy Oliver and his assistant Hayley Ziktor.

"So here's everything we know," Tommy said after a heavy sigh. "Aquatar was invaded by a still unknown force. The entire planet was lost and the few that managed to survive went to KO-35 for the time being."

Disbelief and fear covered the faces of everyone in the meeting. There hadn't been anything more than a few pirate rings to disband since the Armada fell a decade ago.

Everyone had secretly fallen into the belief that the war was finally over, and true peace was on the horizon.

And in mere moments that illusion was shattered, leaving the crew silent.

Justin Stwart, Hayley Ziktor's apprentice, was the first to speak up after Tommy dropped the news.

"Did the morphers make it off the planet though?" He asked.

Tommy nodded, "Billy made sure that they did. Though I'm told he's currently MIA. His assistant is on route to Earth as we speak."

More silence followed Tommy's words.

"Who could've done this though?" Gia asked.

"We don't know," Tommy admitted. Then the center of the table began to project shaky footage of the ship as it appeared over the sky of Aquatar.

"Hey, I know that ship!" A voice that virtually none of them expected to hear, say those words spoke up excitedly. All eyes fell on Camryn as she continued.

"It's a Lairship," she concluded.

"Uhhh excuse me?" Eric Myers asked with a raised eyebrow from the other end of the table.

She sighed, "Like Lothor used?"

Everyone just nodded numbly.

"Let me guess," Camryn said with a frown. "He's not in your system."

"He's in the backlog somewhere," Justin said. "I saw him when I reorganized it."

"Okay whatever," Camryn snapped, "Point is we know that isn't his ship because it got destroyed. But we know that Lairships are mass-produced for bounty hunters and wannabe conquerors."

"So that might mean that we aren't dealing with a larger threat," Justin suggested.

"What kinda bounty hunter has the resources to destroy a planet?" Eric retorted.

"So what you're saying," Gia said before the silence could settle. "Is that we're just as much in the dark as we were before the meeting."

"What I'm saying is that something is coming," Tommy replied. "Ace, Reese, and Camryn. As soon as the ship arrives here from Aquatar you're officially promoted to active status."

"Woah…" Reese muttered with a smile. "I mean… don't get me wrong I know that's not a good thing. But I never really thought it would happen. Or if it did not so soon."

"So what time are they supposed to arrive?" Gia asked.

"A few hours," Tommy replied. "Which is fortunate because it gives us time to prepare for a potential attack on Ear-" Tommy Oliver was then ironically interrupted by a barrage of sirens.

Everyone looked amongst themselves in panic. The alarm had only ever sounded during drills previously.

While everyone else was in a fluster Hayley took charge of the holo-table. Rerouting it to funnel all available information.

"The attack is here," she breathed. "We have clusters of assailants in nearly every wing."

If there was ever a time for people to be thankful that Hexagon employed so many past Rangers it would be that exact moment. Eric Myers, T.J Johnson, Dana Mitchell, Gia Moran, and Justin Stewart all sprang up immediately.

"Those are Krybots," Gia said. "They're Troobian."

"But we're galaxies apart from the nearest Troobian settlement," Justin said.

"Do we really have time to question that?" Tommy asked. "Everyone morph and split up. We don't know what they're after but we need to make sure they don't get it."

The Rangers all filed out, leaving Tommy, Hayley, and a handful of assistants and other employees.

"What about us?" Ace asked with Reese and Camryn beside him.

Tommy sighed, "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this," he said. "But there are one-time use prototype morphers in the south lab. We just have to get there."

"How hard is that gonna be?" Camryn asked.

"There doesn't appear to be any Krybots in between here and there," Hayley observed.

"So we gotta move fast," Ace said. "Got it!"

Tommy led the three out of the Command Chamber and into down the brightly lit hall. The alarms continued as all of the unarmed employees fled to safety.

Meanwhile, the four headed right into the thick of it.

Ace could feel the excitement pumping adrenaline through his blood. He was terrified but he never felt more alive.

The group turned down several more halls that were thankfully empty. Each one bringing them closer to the lab.

But then Hayley's voice came through the coms with a panicked tone.

"I'm detecting a strange energy reading down the hall… but the cameras aren't working."

"We'll be careful," Tommy said darkly as they turned down the next hall.

And met the person standing in their way.

"She doesn't look that tough," Camryn muttered as she sized up the blonde-haired girl who stood alone. She was dressed in a black skin-tight suit with metal armor on top of it.

"I love when people say that about me," the girl said with a smirk. "It makes destroying them that much more satisfying."

"Who are you?" Ace asked. "And how did you get in here?"

"I'm not dumb enough to answer the second question, but I suppose you have a right to know who's going to crush your skulls."

"I'm Galaxia," the girl said as her body began to glow with purple energy. "Servant of Dark Infinus."

Her body then exploded with color, transforming her into something that Ace had seen in enough Ranger textbooks to feel a shiver of panic.

Her armor was nearly identical to a Psycho Ranger, only purple. Her voice took on a synthetic tone as she laughed and drew her weapon, a staff made of twisted black metal.

She pointed the staff and it barfed a violet light that would've vaporized the group had they not jumped away from it.

Tommy rolled into a defensive stance and drew his Master Morpher. "Dino Thunder, Power Up!" In a flash, Tommy became the Black Dino Ranger and raised his Brancho Staff. He charged the villain and she parried his attacks with her staff.

"Go!" He howled.

Camryn and Reese gave him a confused look, but Ace took the cue and charged forward. Thankfully his team followed suit, sneaking past the two armored warriors as they dueled.

"Today can't get any weirder," Reese muttered.

"When you say it like that it sounds like a challenge," Camryn replied as they finally reached the lab.

The trio stepped inside and found it relatively unaffected by the chaos around it. With not even any delicate equipment being harmed.

"Well, whatever they wanted wasn't here," Reese muttered.

"Or they haven't gotten this far yet," Ace replied.

"So what do we do now?" Camryn asked.

It was a fair question, but thankfully Ace had the answer. His eyes scanned the room, looking for the small safe that had been described to him in the past. Ace swallowed the panic that was making it impossible for his eyes to focus. He knew time was quickly dissolving and it was only a matter of moments before something happened.

"We find the morphers and we save Tommy," Ace muttered as he continued searching.

"I wouldn't worry about Tommy," the digitized voice said mockingly as she entered the room.

The three took defensive stances as the purple warrior stalked closer. But thankfully Ace's eyes fell on the inconspicuous metal safe next to one of the work tables. It even had a half-drunken soda resting on top of it as if it were just a small table.

"So uh Dark Infinus," Reese said. "Seems like a pretty interesting guy."

"Dark Infinus single-handedly reunited the Alliance of Evil. He will conquer the entire universe."

Ace realized what Reese was doing and hoped it would work for as long as he needed it to.

"I'm not entirely convinced," Reese said. "I've seen like a dozen warlords from space come to Earth thinking that they're the next Monarch of Evil. Then they get shot down by another team of Rangers."

"Dark Infinus is no petty warlord," the purple psycho wannabe said as her staff began to glow with raw energy.

You're supposed to distract her, Ace's thoughts screamed as he punched the numbers into the safe's pin pad. Not coax her into murdering us faster.

She pointed her glowing weapon at Reese as purple arced from its tip. "All those who refuse to bow to my master will be reduced to ash."

The realization of his actions hit Reese several moments too late. His eyes widened as he stared at the powerful weapon. A preverbal loaded shotgun.

Pointed between his eyes.

But before the enemy could obliterate him in a bright explosion of magical energy, sparks flew from the psycho's back and she fell forward.

Revealing the Yellow Megaforce Ranger with her claw weapon in hand.

"Sorry I'm late," Gia Moran said from under her tiger inspired helmet.

"Better late than never," Reese said.

The victory was short-lived as the warrior quickly recovered from Gia's attack and swung her staff into the Yellow Ranger's chest. Sparks rained from Gia and she fell against the wall as the purple warrior moved in for another attack.

Meanwhile, Ace stuck his hand in the safe and felt his fingers curl around the cold metal. He drew the first morpher and marveled at it. The design was crude and resembled a wirst version of the original Power Morphers. The coins that rested inside were blanks, simple mockups that were designed to disintegrate after a single-use.

Gia was still distracting the purple villain, the two morphed warriors danced around each other, swinging and parrying. So far Gia was holding her at bay, but if Psycho could get past Tommy Ace suspected it the situation wouldn't last.

Ace tossed the morphers to Reese and Camryn who followed suit alongside Ace as they strapped them on.

The enemy jabbed the staff into Gia's chest and unleashed enough raw purple energy to send it arcing across Gia's armor alongside a massive wave of sparks.

Thankfully the three stood together and clasped their left hands over their morphers. "It's Morphin Time!"

The Psycho turned away from the fallen Mega Ranger and uttered a synthetic growl as the world around Ace erupted into a galaxy of crimson light.

It had started with a vortex of energy that erupted from the pseudo coins, turning them to colorful dust as the power wrapped itself around the three Rangers.

For a moment the world ceased to exist around Ace, revealing an endless expanse of darkness.

In the darkness, for only a fractal of a second, Ace saw red eyes pierce the darkness.

And a voice, practically a whisper, said, "Your fate has been sealed."

Then the world returned to Ace and he looked down at his hands. His gloved hands.

During the training process, they had been shown a mock-up of the suits they would potentially use. They were fairly basic, almost entirely their primary color, a shimmering metallic tone that evolved from the metallic armor of the original Power Rangers. Along their right side was a shimmering galaxy design that formed a lighting bolt that extended to the center of their chests. Their helmets had a curved visor and a flat metal mouthpiece. On their belts was a buckle reminiscent of a power morpher, though the morpher sat with an empty hexagon-shaped slot.

The Black Ranger, Reese, raised his twin hatchets, and Camryn as the Blue Ranger armed her staff. Meanwhile Ace drew his two-handed broadsword, holding it close to his chest as he put one foot in front of the other.

"Go!" He commanded his squad and sprang into action.

The power of the grid propelled him forward as he drew his sword back and rapidly approached the enemy. Unfortunately, the Psycho Ranger saw it coming and when Ace swung downward she parried easily with her staff.

"Cute suits," She muttered, "Maybe I'll feel bad about tearing them to pieces." She used the leverage of her staff to throw Ace back then pulled it back in an attempt to stab it through his chest. Thankfully the suit provided him with reflexes sharp enough to turn mid-air and the staff missed him by mere inches.

Unfortunately, the maneuver put him in the perfect position to get swatted out of the air. The staff slapped his chest and knocked the air out of his lungs as he hit the wall and slid next to the Yellow Megaforce Ranger.

But before the purple warrior could take advantage of the Red Ranger's situation a hatchet flew through the air and struck her in the shoulder. She turned towards where the weapon had lodged itself in her armor as the Black and Blue Rangers dashed towards her.

The Psycho Ranger parried the staff with a vertical swing as well, which put her at the perfect angle to shoot a bolt of purple lightning that struck the Black Ranger in the chest. Then while Camryn turned towards the Black Ranger the Psycho Ranger kicked the Blue Ranger back as well.

Meanwhile Ace turned to Gia, who was crawling to her feet.

"We move together," the Yellow Ranger breathed. "I go low you go high."

Ace nodded.

The two Rangers rushed the Psycho. Gia swung her clawed weapon but Galaxia raised her staff in retaliation.

Fortunately, that was what Gia wanted. With the weapon between Gia's metal claws, she twisted the staff out of the villain's hand.

Giving Ace the perfect opportunity to jump clear over the enemy's head and land behind her, swinging his sword diagonally across her back.

The Psycho recovered from the attack but quickly realized she was surrounded by the four Rangers.

She scuffed and threw hands forward, ejecting a wave of energy that threw the Rangers away before teleporting away in a bright purple light.

Her desperate attack was strong enough to finally knock the three Rangers from their armor, though Gia's form proved strong enough to withstand the damage.

The three unmorphed Rangers struggled to stand, but the strain on their bodies proved to be too much, and they all fell back to the ground.

"Just stay here," Gia said before leaving to aid the other Rangers elsewhere. "Not that you have much of a choice."

Reese then looked at Ace, sweat pouring down his face. "How did you decide what morphers to hand us?"

Ace just laughed, "I didn't think about it."

Camryn laughed back, "At least I look good in blue."

It didn't take much longer for the other Rangers to defeat the Krybots, and they even managed it with little damage being done to the base.

Still, everyone was tired and shaken. Especially Tommy who had underestimated Galaxia and paid the price.

"We're still trying to figure out how they got here," Hayley explained. "But those Krybots had to have been previously planted here."

"How?" Gia asked. "Security is airtight."

"Smells like a rat," Eric replied dryly.

"Nevertheless," Tommy continued. "Thankfully we were able to stop them."

"While I agree," T.J said. "We still don't know who attacked or even why."

"Isn't it obvious?" Tommy asked. "They were trying to destabilize us before their ship arrived."

"That… doesn't sound right to me," Gia said with a frown. "I mean don't get me wrong, we have every reason to assume whoever attacked us was working with whoever attacked Aquatar. But something about the attack just seemed off. Why would a force with enough power to devastate Aquatar plan such a guerilla attack?"

"And stranger still, the reports from the ship on route from Aquatar said that they don't believe the Lairship has even left Aquatar," Hayley said.

"Uh, hey guys," Justin said. "Not to interrupt the banter but our satellites are picking up an energy signature and it's… uh…. Big."

Hayley instantly sprang into action and tapped a few keys to project the satellite feed onto the holo-table.

The room became seemingly electrified as the projection materialized in front of their eyes. A massive circular structure that everyone in the room instantly recognized.

"How'd we miss that thing coming?" Gia asked.

"It must've teleported in while we were fighting the Krybots," Justin said darkly.

For several tense moments nobody spoke, instead, they all gawked with horrified eyes as they watched the Dark Fortress loom over the planet.


	2. The Invasion

The air in the Command Room was so thick even Ace's new sword would have trouble cutting through it. All eyes were anxiously glued to the Dark Fortress. They knew that it wasn't the same Dark Fortress that had been used by the last United Alliance of Evil, that one had been commandeered by Andros and then dismantled for resources.  
But that remained the only information they had about the craft. They had no idea who owned it, how it got to Earth, or what its purpose was.  
"Has anyone heard from Andros?" Dana Mitchell spoke up suddenly.  
Ace sighed with a distant sense of relief, not because the situation was improved but because her voice broke the silence.  
"Negative," Tommy replied with a frown. "Andros hasn't replied to any of our attempts to reach him in weeks."  
"Well, there goes our only first-hand source of info about the Dark Fortress…" T.J said.  
"How many Zords do we have?" Gia asked, "I know the new ones are still under construction but couldn't we send what we do have to destroy the fortress before it does something."  
"We'd need an army of Zords," Hayley replied, "Nothing we have even comes close to that."  
"Well, why not?" Gia asked with a paling face. "Why haven't we been spending the last decade building a massive Megazord or something?"  
Silence fell over the Command Room. Nobody had the strength to admit what they all were thinking.  
They all had thought the war was over…  
Unlike the silence that followed the appearance of the Dark Fortress, this silence wasn't allowed to settle. Instead, everyone's attention was drawn back to the Dark Fortress as probes began to launch from its underbelly.  
"Are you tracking those?" Eric asked Hayley and Justin.  
"Trying," The two said simultaneously as they began to furiously type.  
"Those things are landing all over the city," Justin said. "I've counted 15 pods so far."  
"I've counted 20…" Hayley breathed.  
"Send a message to every Ranger in our system, active or retired," Tommy said darkly. "We're going to need all the help we can get if we're going to stand a chance against whatever's coming."  
"I'll personally contact the rest of Lightspeed," Dana said.  
"Good," Tommy replied, "This might be Angel Grove but it's been a LONG time since we've had something like this. People will need help getting to the shelters."  
"My Silver Guardians will hold off what we can," Eric said. "Even if only just to stall until more Rangers arrive."  
"As for everyone else," Tommy said. "Hayley will send your helmet feed coordinates along with any updates." For the second time, that day the Rangers all filed out of the Command Room.  
With Ace, Resse, and Camryn still in their seats.  
"What about us?" Ace asked.  
"While the three of you did amazing against the intruder, but having you intercept the invasion would be a useless risk," Tommy said.  
"What about the Silver Guardians?" Reese asked, "They're still risking their lives without morphers."  
"They've been training for that combat," Tommy said flatly.  
But to Ace, all he heard was, "They're more expendable."  
"There is one thing they can do," Hayley spoke up. "Because of the invasion, I told the ship from Aquatar to land outside of the city."  
"Why didn't you inform me of that until now?" Tommy asked with a raised eyebrow and an annoyed tone.  
"We've been a little busy," she snapped back. Then turned back to the trio. "Anyway, the three of them will take one of the jeeps over to sight and meet up with Billy's assistant."  
"Why not teleport?" Camryn asked. "Just in and out."  
"Same reason we didn't teleport the other Rangers," Hayley said. "We don't know if the Dark Fortress can track our teleportation."  
"How long until she arrives?"  
"20 minutes," Hayley said.  
"Then we don't have time to debate," Ace said and shot up as his inner drive felt a powerful resurgence.  
"I'll go with them," Tommy said.  
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Hayley asked. "Especially after your fight with Galaxia."  
"I'll be okay," Tommy replied. "I'll just be insurance in case something happens before they can secure their morphers."  
Hayley nodded. "Alright, just please stay safe. I know you're the Legendary Tommy Oliver but even legends have limits."  
Tommy just smiled. "Come on Hayley, after all this, I figured you'd trust me."  
"Of course I trust you. But I also know you, and sometimes those two things complement each other."  
Tommy laughed, "that's one of my favorite things about you."  
But as Tommy turned away from the tech supervisor Ace detected a hint of annoyance in the legendary Rangers face.  
***  
The smell of burning plastic and melted steel filled the air around Gia Moran. The sensation drug forward memories of the Legendary Battle, memories she did her best to shake away.  
The mechanical creatures that flooded from the studio apartment-sized pod were a far cry away from the Krybots that had swarmed Hexagon. These robots wore large angular silver chest plates resting over their black bodies. Their wide mechanical eyes scanned the area with an admittedly primitive, but nevertheless eerie intelligence.  
"Quantrons," T.J breathed from next to Gia. The veteran Ranger had chosen his Turbo Red armor, with his Master Morpher resting on his belt. While Gia had opted to use her Super Mega Mode.  
"Oh like from the original UAE," Gia replied, remembering the stories she'd heard.  
T.J nodded, "Andros and Zhane had seen to it that of the plants producing them were destroyed, but unfortunately plenty of them seemed to survive  
"How about we worry about that after we dismantle them?" Gia asked.  
"Good idea," T.J said as he drew his Auto Blaster.  
Without further interruption they jumped into action, Gia raised her flintlock blaster and shot the nearest Quantron in the chest. Meanwhile, T.J jumped atop a bench and shot several of the mechanical enemies as he descended into the thick of their mob. His Turbo Lightning Sword was a blur of motion as it cut into the Quantrons.  
"This is extremely cathartic," the Red Ranger. "I could do it all day."  
"Unfortunately this is where the fun ends," a voice growled. Gia and T.J both turned towards the voice and were relatively surprised.  
"Oh, man…" T.J muttered. While he couldn't say he'd ever personally seen the massive creature before them, he had seen it on his CRT television in 1992.  
The creature snarled, it's pale maw pulled back to reveal razor-sharp teeth. The same visual had given the young T.J nightmares over 3 decades before.  
King Sphinx, a creature that went toe to toe with the original Power Rangers raised its cane weapon and charged at the two Rangers.  
"This is uhh…" Gia said as she dodged the attack, "retro."  
"You're telling me," T.J said with his sword pulled close as he took a defensive stance. The cane flew towards him and his raised blade caught it's horizontal arc; though the force of the attack pushed him back several inches.  
"I almost feel honored," Gia said. "I'm fighting one of the O.G monsters!"  
"Well, the honor's all yours," T.J muttered. "I'll just be happy when we put this kitty down."  
***  
Eric Myers decapitated the last Quantron in his area and immediately received a transmission from one of his Silver Guardians.  
"We have a situation in the shopping district."  
"We have situations all over the city, officer," Eric barked. "I need you to specify."  
"There's a monster!" The voice exclaimed. "A big… uh… eye monster!"  
"What are you going on about?" The Quantum Ranger asked.  
Then he felt his stomach sink as instead of a reply there was only an explosion and static.  
Eric then headed towards the source of the transmission, running past the overturned cars and ruined buildings. And he tried to ignore the grim realization that this battle could very well tear the city apart.  
As Eric approached the appropriate coordinates he found several of his Guardians. They all wore advanced swat armor that channeled a tiny amount of energy from the morphing grid.  
"I'm sorry Chief," one of them said with his gray Ranger-like helmet cracked in several places. "It snuck up on us, we'd be dead if hadn't saved us and engaged with the hostile."  
"Well I can't let him have all the action," Eric muttered, "You did good, officers, fall back." The Quantum Ranger then raised his Vector Blaster and kept moving.  
Moments later he found the Blue Turbo Ranger dodging the swinging fist of the absurd monstrosity. It was a bulbous humanoid creature consisting entirely of eyeballs.  
"Wow he wasn't kidding, talk about a face only a mother could love," Eric said and flanked the creature's side with several potshots.  
"Thanks for the help," Justin said as he regrouped with Eric.  
"No problem, Brianianck," the Quantum Rangers said and converted his blaster to its sword mode. "Figured you could use the help."  
"Hey, don't cut me short," Justin replied. "I've been doing this since I was twelve."  
The creature then vomited a beam of yellow energy from its central eye. The two Rangers barely had time to evade the attack before it eviscerated the motorcycle parked behind them.  
"Did you just say twelve?" Eric asked. Unfortunately, he turned towards Justin right as the creature aimed its middle eye. The beam of yellow light punched Eric in the side and sent him backward as sparks poured from his armor.  
Then in a moment of extreme improvisation, Justin grabbed a pepper shaker off a nearby hotdog stand and tossed it at the creature. In an attempt to swat the container away it broke open and knocked pepper flakes into the creature's eyes.  
"That was cartoonishly convenient," Eric muttered as he picked himself up and stabbed his sword into the chest of the strange creature. "Good work."  
"I always wondered if it would work," Justin said with a shrug. "Skull owes me 10 bucks."  
"Like Eguine Skullovitch, the actor?"  
"Yes!" Justin exclaimed. "I grew up in Angel Grove, my life was weird! Can we focus on the monster?"  
"Yeah," Eric muttered. "Sorry about that…"  
"It's all good," Justin said and shot a blast of blue energy at the monster. "When this is over we can have a few beers and share stories. I wanna hear about Wes' 31-century girlfriend."  
"Sounds great," Eric said and pointed his gun at the charging beast. "I'll even buy the drinks if you can get me a picture of Tommy back when he had longer hair than my old lady."  
"Oh bet," Justin said as his massive Turbo Blasters appeared in his hands in a flash of navy energy. "I'm excited now." The Blue Ranger muttered smugly and joined in flanking the eye monster with a barrage of energy and sparks.  
***  
The jeep parked at an empty field on the outskirts of Angel Grove. Next to them was the highway that connected Angel Grove to Stone Canyon.  
"Two minutes early," Reese muttered as he got out of the passenger seat.  
"So are they," Camryn muttered and pointed at the ship as it appeared overhead.  
The round ship looked almost more like a species of aquatic animal than an artificial creation. Perhaps it had been designed after something native to Aquatar, that was what Ace assumed as he watched it extend its three-pronged legs and land.  
The hatch in the center of the ship opened up and a ramp descended. From there the four watched as the bald figure ran out and towards the Rangers.  
"Tommy Oliver!" The frantic Aquation exclaimed, " is-"  
"I know…" Tommy said softly as the alien broke into a desperate sod and collapsed into Tommy. The legendary Ranger caught the Aquitian and pulled them into a hug.  
Ace watched with helpless guilt. The war had barely even begun and they were already facing devastating casualties.  
This was the type of thing Ace had wanted to avoid. Through most of his childhood, he'd seen first hand what the war looked like. Many of his families had lived in towns the Rangers had battled with evil across the state.  
The Rangers were different, as were the monsters, but the devastation was always the same.  
That was what drove Ace, even when things felt impossible. He was going to become a hero, he was going to keep everyone safe.  
"Where are the morphers?" Ace asked.  
Camryn flashed a dirty look his way but Ace ignored it. The Aquitian also recognized that this wasn't the moment to let one's emotions call the shots. So she took a step back and turned to Ace. "They're on the ship. I'll show you."  
Ace nodded and followed beside her, Camryn and Reese at their heels.  
The four entered the small ship and the Aquitian led them to a work table. "I finished calibrating them on the journey here," she said in a neutral tone. "Mostly… but it'll work itself out when you first morph."  
"That's comforting," Camryn said.  
The Aquitian then opened the small safe and retrieved the three morphers. Ace examined them under the dull green light. They looked very little like the prototypes, they retained the boxy shape but had an elongated hexagon design with a four-inch digital screen and several buttons underneath.  
The three Rangers strapped their morphers on and Camryn began fiddling with the alien interface displayed on the digital screen.  
"Can this thing take selfies?" Camryn asked. "Can it run Twitter?"  
"Negative, Blue Ranger," a synthetic female voice said through the device.  
"Woah…" Camryn said as she looked down at her morpher. "Was that you?"  
"Correct," the voice said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Ranger Artificial interactive Database. Or RAD as my creator dubbed me. I'm here to assist you."  
"That's cool," Reese said. "If not a little creepy."  
Ace looked down at the morpher. This felt different from the prototype, this felt more exciting. More real.  
"Incoming transmission from Hayley…" R.A.D spoke.  
"I just saw that your morphers are online," Hayley spoke, "It couldn't be a better time. Lightspeed needs help getting civilians out of a burning building."  
"We're on it," Ace said.  
"Wait… There's more" Hayley said. "There's activity on the moon."  
"Oh no…" Ace muttered as the sinking feeling spread. "Was the invasion just a diversion?" Ace then shook the lingering thoughts away. "Hayley, teleport Reese, Camryn, and Tommy to the new activity. Send me to help Lightspeed."  
"Teleport?" Camryn asked. "Aren't we avoiding that."  
"And what was that about the moon?" Reese added.  
"I was thinking the same thing, Ace," Hayley said. "Everyone get ready for teleportation."  
***  
Camryn was the only person who landed gracefully out of the trio. The teleportation was violent and disorientating. Thankfully their morphers had instantly triggered their morphs the moment they appeared on the lunar surface.  
"That was kinda rough," Reese muttered after being teleported with his upper half in the gray soil with a bottom half bent over.  
Tommy fumbled forward and landed on one knee, somehow looking badass even after the mishap. His Master Morpher had chosen his Green Ranger form, which almost seemed to glow with emerald energy on the barren world around them. "Yeah," He muttered, "Usually Hayley doesn't rush it like that."  
The three found themselves in front of a dilapidated palace. A ruined structure that seemed ominous and haunting with the gray desert around in.  
The sight of the ruined palace didn't mean much to Camryn or Reese, but Tommy instantly frowned under his helmet.  
"This used to be Rita and Zedd's palace," The legendary Ranger breathed.  
"Why would this be a spot they'd single out?" The Blue Ranger asked.  
Suddenly a massive earthquake tore under the Rangers feet.  
"Wouldn't you love to know," the cold synthetic voice of Galaxia said.  
"I'm getting really tired of seeing you," Camryn muttered.  
"Trust me, the feeling's mutual," The Psycho Ranger muttered.  
The three Rangers all took defensive stances as the purple warrior rushed towards them in a blur of motion.  
Tommy threw a blast of green energy from his dagger that hit the purple warrior and left her off balance and ill-prepared for his spin kick that sent her skidding across the lunar sand.  
"You surprised me last time," Tommy muttered. "But I'm ready now."  
"Don't worry, Tommy, we have plenty of surprises," Another voice said from the left of the Rangers.  
The three Rangers turned towards the source and were met with more iconography pulled straight from an early Power Ranger documentary.  
The infamous golden warrior Scorpina grinned smugly as she crossed her arms with Snizzard and Mighty Minotaur beside her.  
"Well this is a blast from the past," Tommy said.  
"Do you like them?" Scorpina asked as she lightly caressed the Mighty Minotaur's massive hairy arm. "Finster had a bunch of spares made for Rita's army. Fortunately, a lot of them didn't get cooked before the Z-Wave. After all, lifeless clay doesn't have an allegiance to good or evil. "  
"That doesn't explain how you're here. Unless you're trying to imply you're more empty-headed then I assumed," Tommy said and raised his Dragon Dagger to the villainess.  
Scorpina growled and summoned her curved blade.  
The clay monsters charged first, but that was where Reese and Camryn stepped in. The Blue Ranger dodged the massive metal flail of the Minotaur as she swung her staff into its midsection. Meanwhile, Reese swung one of his onyx colored hatchets into Snizzard's thick hide.  
That left Tommy and Scorpina, who danced around each other in an elaborate and delicate way that could only be attained by lifelong enemies.  
Camryn was thankful that Tommy had chosen to come with them. As things stood they had a far greater chance of getting out of this alive.  
But still, a part of her wished that Ace had come with them instead of Reese. It wasn't anything against the Black Ranger, he was a competent fighter. Instead, it had more to do with his background. Reese was an officer of the Silver Guardians, one of the youngest to crawl up the ranks.  
Camryn's background as a ninja of the Wind Ninja Academy gave her the gut instincts that warned that there might be more to his inclusion in the team than her superiors led on.  
Whether paranoia or not Camryn wasn't going to risk it, so she always kept a discreet distance between her and Reese. Which made trusting him in life-threatening situations a bit more complicated...  
Camryn was so lost in thought she almost missed the massive creature charging towards her. Thankfully her instincts carried her away from its attack with a graceful twirl that she used the energy from to swing her staff into it's snarling maw. Clay crumbled and cracked under the force of her attack, leaving the left half of its face obliterated.  
"Oh wow," she muttered, "that's creepy."  
The beast growled with what was left of its mouth and attacked.  
Again Camryn wished silently that Ace was with them. She could trust him in moments like this. He had the air of a true warrior, something noble and unduplicatable.  
Something more than just a soldier.  
The Minotaur swung his mace diagonally, which Camryn leaped on top of as it flew through the air. She then used the opportunity to deliver the killing blow with her staff. She stabbed it into the remainder of the monster's face, finishing it off and sending its body falling backward with a soft thud as it landed on lunar soil.  
Right around the same time, Reese swung his hatchet into Snizzard's head and it finally succumbed to its injuries and fell with a similarly satisfying thud.  
"Just in time too… "' Reese muttered breathlessness as he caught up to Camryn, then pointed towards Tommy.  
The Green Ranger was on the ropes. Scorpina swung her massive blade in a diagonal arc across his midsection. Sparks flew back as Tommy fell to the ground.  
The two Rangers looked at each other before rushing to Tommy's aid.  
***  
The air smelled of burning wood and plastic around Ace as he teleported inside the massive building caught aflame.  
He raised his morpher and transformed, rushing through the wall of flames.  
He found a young boy who had retreated into the furthest corner of the office. Soot covered his face as he stared desperately at Ace.  
The sight brought forth childhood memories in a sudden flash. As a kid, he'd been in an apartment fire. If it hadn't been for the intervention of Carter Grayson he wouldn't have escaped before the building collapsed.  
Reality returned as the Pink Lightspeed Ranger appeared through the flames. Her suit was covered in ash and black scorch marks, with a tiny crack in the left corner of her helmet.  
"I'll get him to safety," Dana Mitchell said. "But Carter could use your help. He's a level above us, engaged with a hostile."  
"On it," Ace said with a nod.  
The Red Ranger dashed up the stairs and found the Lightspeed Ranger dueling with a warrior in black medieval armor.  
Behind the Ranger were several civilians, the only thing between the panicked men and women in suits was the Power Ranger, and Carter was starting to lose…  
Nasty Knight slashed into Carter's chest, throwing him across the floor as smoke poured from his armor.  
In a flash of crimson light, Ace summoned his broadsword and parried the Knight's next swing.  
"The suits look better than I thought it would," Carter said as he stood up.  
"Thanks," Ace said as he kicked Nasty Knight into a wall of flames.  
"We've gotta get these people out," Ace said to Carter.  
As if to magnify his point the entire structure of the building trembled around their feet.  
"You're right, his building can't handle much more stress," Carter muttered. "But that Knight isn't ready to give up."  
Nasty Knight then leaped from the flames, his body seemed to slightly melt under the intense heat.  
Carter parried the monster's blade, then turned to Ace as sparks flew between their weapons.  
"Get them and everyone else out," Carter barked.  
"But what about you?" Ace asked.  
"Don't worry about me!" Carter exclaimed. "Not till everyone else is safe!"  
Ace felt his stomach turn as he watched one of his childhood heroes fight. Leaving him felt wrong, he was betraying someone who literally saved his life.  
But then with somber clarity, he realized what he needed to do, and turned towards the almost unimaginably terrified civilians. "Come on," he said and gestured towards them. "Let's get out of here."  
He then escorted the people down the stairs as the battle between Carter and Nasty Knight grew quieter.  
A scream broke the tense silence and Ace turned towards a woman being cornered by a Quantron. He raised his sword and quickly decapitated it.  
Which led him to Dana as she fought against a mod of Quantrons blocking the fire exit she was trying to evacuate the civilians out of.  
Ace tightened his grip on his broadsword and jumped in. He took out several of the automations as the ground trembled. "I'll hold them off," Ace muttered.  
Dana nodded as Ace used his sword to force all the Quantrons back to give Dana clearance to guide the people to safety.  
The building trembled again, this time with enough force to crack the floor under the Ranger's feet. Ace steadied himself but not before a Quantron stabbed its curved blade into his side.  
Sparks flew as the ground trembled again, this time Ace barely had time to evade before the floor below him collapsed.  
Ace leaped forward and slashed into the nearest Quantron, cutting it down and giving him the freedom to dispatch the next one with a powerful swing of his sword.  
Then the sound of cracking wood and crumbling concrete told him exactly what he needed to know and kicked the nearest Quantron out of his way to rush towards the window. By then the fire truck they'd been using to bring people to the street had moved, but that wasn't a problem for Ace who just jumped to the street and let his suit absorb the impact.  
He looked up just in time to watch the building implode and collapse into rubble.  
"That was a good first outing," Dana said. "Have you considered working for Lightspeed?"  
"I-I dunno…" Ace said. Feeling the empty pit in his stomach growing as he watched the dust settle.  
"You did great," she said, "We got everyone out."  
"Not everyone," Ace breathed.  
Dana looked around for a moment, then paused as the realization settled. "Oh no… no, no, no," her hand went to her helmet. "He's gotta be safe somewhere… he's gotta… Carter wouldn't…" her helmet exploded in magenta light. Dana Mitchell sobbed as tears rolled down her face.  
If anyone would do it it would be Carter.  
In a moment of raw strength, Dana wiped her face and took a deep breath before returning to the task of aiding the rescued civilians.  
Ace didn't have the strength or a task to return to. So instead he looked towards the rumble and let the tears run down his counseled face.  
***  
Scorpina lived up to the hype, Reese and Camryn were learning that the hard way.  
Reese ducked under Scorpina's blade and prepared to swing one of his axes.  
But a bolt of purple lighting punched him in the gut and sent him falling backward.  
"Hate to make things short," Galaxia said from several feet away. "But I've retrieved the artifact."  
"That's the green chaos crystal…" Tommy breathed as he looked at the object in the Psycho Rangers arm.  
"Ah, wonderful," Scorpina sang. "Sorry guys, we're gonna have to put this on pause." The villain said as she was teleported away along with Galaxia.  
The three Rangers nearly collapsed in exhaustion. They had already been sore from their earlier battle with Galaxia but Scorpina and her posse of classic monsters just compounded it tenfold.  
"They were after the chaos crystal…" Tommy said to Hayley in a desperate breath. "But they got away."  
"Well that's not good," Hayley replied, "But there isn't time to worry about that right now. "  
"What's up?" Tommy asked.  
"There's a massive army of Quantrons marching through downtown. With about a dozen monsters as well."  
"Teleport us in," Tommy said.  
"I was already working on it," Hayley replied as the three Rangers were enveloped in light.  
***  
Ace ached. His head ached, his body ached, and his heart ached.  
But he didn't let the pain extinguish his fighting spirit, instead, he allowed it to fuel him.  
After saving the people from the building he'd headed towards the front lines of the battle, where an army of Quantrons stood unchallenged.  
He was going to change that.  
Three teleportation beams struck the ground and materialized into his two comrades and Tommy Oliver.  
"Hey Ace," The Black Ranger said. "you missed the fun."  
"I'm sure he had enough on his own," Camryn said. "I mean look at him."  
Camryn's joke just made Ace shudder.  
"Hey, fancy seeing you guys here," Gia Moran said as she and T.J appeared. Behind her were Eric Myers and Justin Stewart who approached the growing group.  
All of them were beaten, with cracked helmets and torn suits.  
The battle had been tough thus far, but it wasn't over yet…  
Tommy Oliver took the lead, stepping past the group and raising his Master Morpher towards the marching army.  
"We are the Power Rangers, and we will defend this planet until our last breath!" The morpher exploded with energy, turning him into the original White Ranger.  
Tommy pointed Saba forward and began the charge.  
Several transport vans parked behind the Rangers and Silver Guardians filed out, with their guns immediately blasting, tearing through the Quantrons as the Rangers advanced towards the mob of monsters.  
Ace and Eric Myers slammed into a massive turtle monster. The two Red Rangers ducked past its fist as it slammed into the concrete. A wave of concrete dust sailed past the Rangers as Eric drew his sidearm and opened fire.  
"You don't always have to rely on the bulky sword," Eric said.  
"Huh?"  
"Your suit has its own sidearm. Hayley even used mine as bases so you know it's good." Eric explained with a presumed wink from under his helmet. Ace then noticed a small icon that displayed a tiny blaster on the morpher's screen. He pressed the button and a sleek black and red blaster appeared in a flash of crimson light.  
Ace tested his blaster by offering suppressive fire on the turtle while Eric converted his sidearm to its sword mode and leaped forward.  
Eric delivered a powerful swing of his sword that sent sparks flying from its reptilian scales, but it wasn't nearly enough to stun the creature which didn't bode well for Eric considering his lack of distance from the raging turtle.  
It swung it's massive arm and sent the Quantum Ranger flying backward. Eric slammed his blade into the asphalt, tethering him to the ground and allowing the Ranger to recapture his footing.  
But the turtle shot a beam of red energy from the traffic light sticking out of its head. The energy channeled around Eric and froze him in place. "Are you kidding me?" The Quantum Ranger exclaimed, "I thought that thing was just a silly design choice!"  
"I figured you'd know better by now," A female voice spoke.  
Eric scoffed, "I shoulda guessed you'd come at the most embarrassing moment."  
"Well duh," His wife Taylor Myer, Yellow Wild Force Ranger, said in a light tone, "That's what makes it fun." Behind her were the Blue, Black, and Silver Wild Force Rangers.  
"Don't forget about me," Another voice replied, "I enjoy seeing it just as much as she does."  
The voice belonged to Wesly Collins, who arrived along with the Titanium Ranger.  
The Lightspeed Ranger approached Ace. "Tommy wants your team together in the center of this mess."  
Ace nodded and left the veteran Rangers to continue the fight.  
As he moved through the war-torn city street he casually passed fallen Quantrons, smoking cars, and a constant reminder that it would take weeks or even months for things to recover from this invasion.  
Assuming they could stop it while the city still stood.  
Ace then spotted Camryn struggling against a massive bipedal arachnid. She dodged a blast of webbing that escaped the monster's mouth and she slammed her staff into its body. "Normally I love spiders… but this a little much." She muttered.  
Ace raised his sidearm and opened fire as he rushed the creature. It turned towards him and offered an inhuman hiss before it barfed a bolt of blue lightning from its maw. But Ace leaped forward, rolling across the ground and lunging forward. He materialized his sword and jabbed it into the creature's exoskeleton.  
"We don't have time to play exterminator," Ace said, "Tommy needs us."  
"What am I supposed to do?" Camryn asked, "Tell the giant spider to leave me alone?"  
"You could try," a voice said from behind the Blue Ranger. She turned around and instantly grinned at five Rangers she spotted. "Or you totally could let us take care of it," Dustin Brooks said with the two wind and thunder ninja alongside him.  
Camryn nodded, as her face burned with embarrassment. She wasn't used to any of the Ninja Masters regarding her as a peer, especially since she had been a student at the academy just a few months prior.  
The two Rangers then continued forward and met with Tommy and Reese. The four Rangers stood in the clearing, away from any of the struggles that surrounded them.  
"Alright now that you're all here I want to explain how to use the full capability of your l morphers," Tommy explained.  
"What do you mean?" Camryn asked. "We're already morphed."  
"But there's a power beyond just morphing," Tommy said and opened his gloved hand to reveal three octagon-shaped coins.  
"These are Power Coins, right?" Ace asked.  
"That's right," Tommy said. "These will allow you to ascend further through the Morphing Grid. "  
The three Rangers took the coins and carefully examined them. A tremendous trembling diverted the Ranger's attention back to the battlefield, where the Samurai and Ninja Steel Rangers were struggling against Pudgy Pig.  
"Let's see what these things can do," Ace said and pulled the empty Master Morpher from his belt and placed the coin inside.  
His two comrades followed suit and they held the morphers out as they exclaimed. "It's Morphin' Time, Zenith Ascension!"  
Their morphers surged so intensely with raw energy that they began to hum. Meanwhile, their bodies became completely engrossed in a glowing light.  
Under the intense halo of morphing energy, their suits themselves began to change. The lightning bolt changed from a galaxy print to a scaley texture, along with gold diamonds that ran down the side of their legs. Then in a second flash, they gained additional armor, spiked shoulder guards, and similar spiked gauntlets. Then in a final rush of energy, their helmets gained golden embroiling along their visors, each representing the head of a different Jurassic titan.  
Ace gained the open maw of a Tyrannosaurus.  
Reese's visor represented a raptor with its razor-sharp teeth represented with spikes.  
While Camryn got a Triceratop, with a set of three small golden horns on top of her helmet.  
The three Rangers instinctively took a feral stance. "Zenith Dino Mode!"  
The Rangers summoned their new weapons, a Stego-Shield that was designed as a stegosaurus head surrounded by large triangular spikes and a Brochio-Saber, a short sword with a slightly curved handle modeled after a brachiosaurus neck with the head at the very bottom.  
The power Ace suddenly had still his control was astounding to him. It was like every cell in his body had a nuclear reactor at its core.  
He then turned towards the Samurai and Ninja Steel Rangers who were getting overwhelmed by the gluttonous foe that devoured all of their weapons and everything else they threw at him.  
The three Rangers nodded and charged the hog wild beast. It opened it's massive maw to swallow their gear but Ace shield bashed it backward. It snorted painfully as it tried to regain its balance, it's freshly broken nose wheezed uncomfortably as Reese and Camryn appeared from above.  
They both swung down, their swords slashing through its flesh and expelling a spray of sparks from both sides of the beast.  
It fell to the ground and exploded, leaving it's previously swallowed weapons for the other Rangers to retrieve.  
"That was epic," the Red Ninja Steel Ranger said. "I take it you're the new guys?"  
"Uh… yeah, we are," Ace said and shook the Red Ranger's hand.  
"Good work," the Red Samurai Ranger said. "I'm sure they could use that over there," The Ranger said and pointed towards Tommy, Gia, and Justin who were battling against a barrel-chested creature with a hairy wolf-like maw in golden armor.  
The three Ranger didn't waste a second rushed to the veteran Ranger's aid.  
"When Scorpina said Finster made an army of duplicates I didn't think they had copies of generals," Tommy muttered, he'd since changed to his Zeo form and parried Goldar's blade. The titan warrior growled and knocked Tommy's sword from his grip before slashing him across the chest.  
The Super Mega Ranger and her Turbo comrade moved between Tommy and the raging titan.  
The morphing grid led Ace forward, teaching him how to unleash his new power in a desperate moment.  
"Already guys," he said to his team. "It's time to show everyone what we can do."  
The Rangers nodded and raised their swords. The Branchio-Sabers began to glow with their respective Ranger's colors as they were waved in a clockwise circle. The circles that formed remained floating in the air around the Rangers as each of them exclaimed.  
"Dino Impact!" And swung their blades diagonally through the rings.  
Three waves of energy sailed towards Goldar before taking the form of a Tyrannosaurus, a Raptor, and a Triceratops. The three dinosaurs smashed into Goldar, raining sparks from his massive body.  
The three Rangers collapsed as their dino forms slipped away in a flash of light.  
"Gia!" Tommy exclaimed as he morphed into the Green Dragon Ranger.  
"Right!" She said with a nod and slipped a red ranger key into her Morpher. "Tyrannosaurus!" She exclaimed and grabbed Tommy's Dragon Shield as it came her way. The Red Ranger summoned her Power Sword as her body pulsed with morphing energy. Her sword cut clean through Goldar, leaving the clay duplicate cleaved in half.  
Silence fell over the battlefield, the city street was barely recognizable. Massive craters and gashes littered the asphalt, along with a carpet of dismantled Quantrons.  
Everyone looked up towards the Dark Fortress, a blight across the otherwise empty sky.  
Before suddenly disappearing.  
"Hey," Camryn said. "They're retreating!"  
"No," Ace breathed. "Just pulling out. They got whatever they came for."  
***  
The next few hours were a blur of motion. Ace felt like a temporal zombie, limping through time with a numb detachment.  
The battle was over, and everyone was chalking that up to a victory.  
But large chunks of Angel Grove would need major reconstruction before they could safely reopen and the entire city had settled into a silent fear.  
Old wounds were reopened, monsters had returned to Angel Grove, and the illusion of safety was shattered.  
What kind of victory was that?  
There was a soft knock on Ace's door. He groaned, he'd already been summoned from his apartment to undergo a check-up and a debriefing.  
He was done with everybody, especially since he'd just gotten his brother to go to sleep.  
Still, he knew he couldn't ignore the knock, especially when the second wave of it hit his ears.  
He frowned and opened his door as he found Dana Mitchell.  
Her eyes were cold and distant, and that was what scared him the most.  
"Hey…" she breathed. "I'm sorry, I know it's late and you're probably beyond tired…" she trailed off and Ace's eyes fell on the device in her left hand.  
He felt his guts liquify as reality shifted for a brief moment and he was once again surrounded by flames.  
"I know you and Carter weren't as close as you would've liked, but he knew that you looked up to him. And I can't shake the feeling he would've wanted you to have this," she said and handed him the object, Carter's heavily damaged morpher.  
Ace just stared at.  
"It was damaged too much for Lightspeed to have any use for it, and standard protocol dictates that we destroy it, but I know it'll be safe with you."  
Ace nodded wordlessly.  
Dana suddenly pulled him into a tight hug, squeezing him harder as the tears began to fall down his face.  
"Thank you…" was all he managed to croak through the heavy sobs.  
"You'll make him proud," was all she said before softly pulling away and quickly leaving.  
But not before Ace caught the glossy look in her eyes.  
***  
Two weeks later and nobody felt like the battle was over.  
The rubble had been cleared, and the less devastated areas of the city had reverted to something resembling normalcy. But the echoes of the conflict still danced in the back of everyone's mind  
The invisible wound personified itself that Sunday morning, at the Heroes of Humanity Park, where nearly every current and former Ranger stood in silence.  
The park was established after the Legendary Battle, with the intention that it would host a monument for every Ranger that fell protecting the planet.  
At the center of the park was a massive courtyard, with a sign at every entrance that said MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU.  
Around the courtyard were life-size bronze statues, various Power Rangers performing their most iconic poses. And next to each of them was a plaque that said their Ranger title and, if they had expressed consent previously, their legal name.  
This was the Monument of the Fallen, or as some called it, the Ranger Graveyard.  
The Rangers had gathered there to see the installment of the two newest statues. Lightspeed Red, and Mighty Morphin Blue.  
The service had ended an hour previously, ending with a speech by Kimberely Hart that left even Eric Myers fidgeting and wiping his eyes.  
But it wasn't just the statues that were unveiled, but the blue tri-petaled flowers that surrounded Billy Cranston's statue. The Hagonni had been planted by his former assistant Thetis as previously requested.  
"They're really pretty," Camryn said to Thetis who had just finished performing a traditional Aquitian prayer.  
"I think so too," she replied softly. Thetis was Hexagon's newest resident, and in the past two weeks, she'd hardly said ten words to anyone.  
The sight of her quietly sulking through the halls tugged at the Blue Ranger's heart. So Camryn decided she was going to help the Aquitian integrate.  
"What are you doing after this?" Camryn asked.  
"I... don't have anything planned," Thetis admitted.  
"Great," Camryn said with a smile. "So you'll come to get a drink at Ernie's?"  
"I-I dunno…"  
"Come on," Camryn said. "Ace and Reese will be there too, maybe even Gia."  
The Aquitian looked away from Camryn and back to Billy's statue.  
"Rangers get free drinks," Camryn added lightly.  
"Okay…" Thetis said. "I'll go." And two-headed away from the field of fallen heroes.  
***  
Gia Moran took a drag of her first cigarette in over four years. The warm air filled her lungs as she stared at flowers she'd set next to one of the statues.  
Jake Holling, Black Mega Force/ Green Super Mega Force.  
She exhaled, the gray smoke floating around in the dead air.  
The statue depicted him in his Super Mega form, looking powerful and dignified with his cutlass raised and flintlock pointed toward her.  
"I never got to meet Jake," Hayley admitted, "But from everything I've heard I know I would've liked him."  
Gia smiled sadly, "Everyone did. He was one of the most annoying people I've ever met but I'd be lying if I said I don't miss him." Gia took another drag of her cigarette and turned to Hayley, "But that's not why you're talking to me."  
Hayley sighed, "It's Tommy… somethings wrong with him."  
"What do you mean?" Gia asked.  
"He-" she paused for a second and considered her next words carefully. "He didn't visit Kira's memorial."  
Gia's cigarette nearly fell from her lip, "Oh shit."


End file.
